


The Impossible Case of Lance McClain And Keith Kogane

by rambles_N_tumbles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, College AU, Friends to Lovers, Lifeguard Lance (Voltron), M/M, Movie Night, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), allura is here for a second, everyone knows they like each other except for klance, hunk is the best friend we all deserve, its just klance man idk what else you want from me, its not actually a slowburn for us but it is for lance, klance, painter! keith, slowburn for the impatient soul, swim captain pidge, they dont think its a date but its totally a date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 19:45:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8115145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rambles_N_tumbles/pseuds/rambles_N_tumbles
Summary: Lance is convinced he cannot fall in love with Keith. Everyone else begs to differ, including Keith.





	1. Establishing the 'Problem'

**Author's Note:**

> Klance is fun to write, especially considering these two drive each other pretty crazy. In a good way. Maybe.

Lance McClain was _not_ crushing on Keith Kogane.

  
It just wasn’t happening. It wasn’t possible. Right?

  
“I don’t see what the big deal here is, Lance.” Hunk was currently sitting across from Lance in a small cafe on campus. The two had barely made it through their meals when Lance began rambling about feelings he thought he was having -but definitely shouldn't be because _friends shouldn't crush on each other_ , Hunk, _please agree with me_ \- with Lance's sandwich being left abandoned in exchange for moping. With a head of brown hair slamming into the table, Hunk finished his cheese steak and was eyeballing Lance's BLT, Lance releasing a groan for the twelfth time in five minutes. Pulling his attention away from the sandwich, he appraised his best friend.

“It’s not like he’s terrible person or anything, after all. Keith is a good guy.”

  
“It’s not _that_ , Hunk.” Lance lifted his head slightly, pushing his plate towards his best friend, knowing the battle with a stomach like Hunk's is very rarely won. “It’s just that, it’s _Keith_.”

  
“Yeah, so? You like who you like, can’t control that.” Hunk raised an eyebrow as Lance scratched his head awkwardly, as if hoping the answer would show itself buried underneath all that, well, _Lance_. The way he groaned afterwards alerted Hunk that, no, he didn't find anything under all those warm brown locks.

  
“No, no, not that part. Just, it’s _Keith_. The Keith that I watched date assholes, that I've gone to amusement parks with, hell, I’ve driven to him at 3 am because he busted his toe and didn’t have anyone to drive him to the ER!”

  
“Didn’t you end up spending the night with him there, too?” Hunk glanced up from his sandwich as Lance threw his arms up desperately.

  
“See?!” Lance groaned, dropping back down as he let his head fall against the table. Hunk sighed, wrapping the rest of the sandwich in the foil it came with, and placed a hand on his best friends head.

  
“Lance, you’re overthinking this entire mess. If you like Keith, just tell him. Honestly, I think he likes you, too.” Lance tilted his head to the side, eyeing his best friend closely.

  
“And if he doesn’t?” Hunk leaned back in his chair, scratching at a beard that wasn't there.

  
“Well, then that’s one less person to pack lunch for when we go on road trips.” Lance couldn’t help himself, he laughed, _hard_ , as Hunk watched him regain his composure. Checking his watch, Hunks eyes widened slightly. “Hey, don’t you have to work in like, fifteen minutes?”

  
“Oh, crow! I gotta get to the pool!” Jumping to his feet, Lance grabbed his bag and, slinging it over his shoulder, rushed out of the small cafe, sparing a quick wave to his best friend.

 

“Say hi to Pidge for me!” Hunk called out to him, waving as Lance’s figure disappeared into the crowds of students rushing from class to class. Smiling to himself, he unwrapped his sandwich and finished it off quietly. 

_'Good luck, Kitty, he's your mess now.'_

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lance reached the locker room with six minutes to spare, sighing as he dropped his bag on the small bench, pulling out his bright red uniform and changing into the cutoff lifeguard shirt and swim trunks. He folded his clothes as neat as possible, carefully stuffing them in his locker as he barely remembered to take his sunglasses and whistle with him. As he stuck his hand into his pockets for his cell phone, he found a crumpled piece of paper with Keith’s scribbled handwriting on it.

 

_8pm, my place, don’t forget. Bring chips and some candy._  
_Sharknado **will** start with or without you._  
_-Keith_

_'Of course, today's the second Wednesday of the month, Lance.'_   Rolling his eyes, Lance could've sworn Keith knew he was losing his mind, picking the best day to mess with him about movie night. Laughing, he slipped the paper back into his bag, wondering when he had fallen so hard for his ridiculous friend. After making sure his locker was secured, he slipped on his flip flops and made his way into the pool area, grinning as he heard a familiar voice yelling irritatingly.

  
“If you would’ve practiced what I told you before, you would be able to perfect that stroke! But _of course_ , instead you decided to fiddle with your goggles for twenty minutes!!” Pidge stood at the edge of the pool, hands firmly on her hips as she lectured a freshman on the importance of breathing techniques, not noticing him until his arm draped around her wet shoulders, smirk firm on his face as he towered over her.

  
“Hey, Captain, how are the little recruits?” Pidge groaned, glaring at the girl who attempted to hide her face in the water, a small blush on her face as she, very obviously, checked the male out. In her defense, his tight sleeveless shirt let the girl have a full view of his shaped biceps. At realizing the girl was no longer paying her any attention, Pidge took a step forward, leaning dangerously close to the girls face, hissing for only her ears to pick up.

  
“ _You aren’t even listening!_ 15 laps, NOW!” The girl barely had enough time to squeak out a response before ducking into the water and swimming away.  Lance laughed, Pidge turning to his side with a small smile playing on her lips.

  
“What was that about, huh? You jealous KitKat~?” Pidge laughed, startling some of the other swim team members nearby into jumping in the water and joining their teammate in swimming laps. Lance raised an eyebrow at their movements, but Pidge didn’t pay them any attention.

  
“You kidding me? I was looking for a reason to yell at them and you just gave me the perfect opportunity. If anything, I should be grateful." Glancing back at her team, Pidge grinned at Lance, causing him to blush slightly. "However, the fact that you're here means I shouldn't be too happy so soon.”

It was rare to see Pidge in this environment, perfectly comfortable and in control, with only her hair and the lopsided grin on her face revealing her true untamed nature. Lance loved seeing her so at ease, reminding him that she wasn't the 8 year old he used to babysit anymore, and they were, indeed, in college now.

  
“So, what’d you come bother me for, anyway? It’s Wednesday, your shift doesn’t start until 2:30, and as far as I know, it's not even 2 yet.” Chuckling, Pidge tilted her head slightly as Lance grumbled, turning to check the clock on the wall. Indeed, it was 1:50 and yes, he was entirely too early for his shift. Hunk must have _really_ wanted him out of his hair.

  
“Ugh, Hunk must have confused the day and sent me away.” Pidge raised an eyebrow, turning her body slightly to keep an eye on her swimming team, while still giving Lance his needed attention. “I must’ve bugged him with all the Keith talk.”

  
“Keith talk? Something happen?” Pidge gestured for one of the more experienced swimmers -he honestly couldn’t remember their names, only telling the difference between newbies and oldies by their uniform colors- to assist a freshman with something, before turning to eye Lance. “I thought you two were actually getting along these days. You said you were even calling each other friends properly now.”

  
“We are! It’s just, I don’t know.” Lance grumbled, scratching his head, sighing as Pidge chuckled at his uneasiness.

  
“You two finally start being friends and now you don’t want it? What's that about, Lance?” Lance sighed, dragging his feet as he walked away from Pidge, shaking his head. Pidge followed, turning and grabbing her towel as she untied her hair from its ponytail. “Okay, it’s worse than that apparently, considering I haven’t seen you this grumpy and confused since you realized Swedish Fish aren’t from Sweden.”

  
“Hey! We both know that was a _complete betrayal from everyone involved!_ ” He sat on the bleachers, the metal groaning slightly under his weight as he watched the swimmers finish their laps, looking cautiously towards their captain. Pidge grumbled, raising a finger to Lance, a 'wait a sec' before moving towards her team and handing out instructions. Lance watched her roll her shoulders back, finishing off her lecture with a gentle smile and some encouraging words. As the females faces lit up, energetically chanting and laughing with each other, they watched them make their way to the locker room. Some exchanged quick goodbyes with their captain, though Pidge waited until they were all gone before turning to Lance.

 

With a wink in his direction, she dove wordlessly into the water. Lance laughed as he rose to his feet, watching Pidge swim calmly through the water. She was completely in her element as Lance leaned closer to the water.

 

“Hey, I thought we were having a conversation?” Lance chuckled as Pidge rolled her eyes at him, floating on her back to face him.

  
“No, _you_ were complaining because you like _Keith_ and can’t figure out how to tell him.” Lance felt his face turn red, grumbling as Pidge leaned on the lane line, hair falling over her grin as water dripped off it, darkening the color. “Just admit it, you like him and can’t figure out how to tell him.”

  
“That’s not it!” Lance grabbed a nearby kick board and chucked it at his companion, who only laughed as she easily avoided it. “I can go up to him whenever I want and tell him, that’s not hard!”

  
“Then what’s the big deal, McClain?” Making her way back to the deck, Pidge saw a slight confusion enter his eyes, before it switched over to embarrassment all over again. He mumbled, turning to sit on the bleachers again as Pidge pulled herself out of the water. “Sorry, I didn’t get that. What?”

  
Another mumble and Pidge wrung her hair from the chlorine water with a roll of her eyes. “Lance, I don’t have a clue what you’re saying-”

  
“I DON’T KNOW WHY I'M FEELING THESE THINGS!” As soon as the words flew out of his mouth, his hands were up and covering his face that was turning an even deeper shade of red. Pidge smiled lightly, making her way to sit beside him on the bleachers.

  
“Jeez, Lance, you really are a lost cause.” Lance glared at her, peeking out from behind one hand as Pidge only patted his back. “You like him because he’s your _best friend_. Y'know, besides Hunk and I. We personally don't care if you don't like us, makes us feel special." Lance elbowed Pidge slightly, a laugh erupting from her before she turned serious again. "You and Keith have been through everything together, from school fights to awful relationships, hell, you guys went to prom together!”

  
“That wasn’t official, y’know.” Pidge smiled, drying her hair with the towel as she stood, Lance lifting his face to watch her leave.

  
“It doesn’t matter, Lance. You both felt something then, and you feel something now. You know better than anyone how Keith acts when he likes someone. I’m surprised it still hasn’t hit you.”

  
Lance sat quietly as Pidge made her way into the female locker rooms, heard a couple shouts as some of her teammates were still hanging around inside, and threw his head back into his hands.

 

Maybe he did like Keith a little bit.

 

But only a little.


	2. Facing the 'Problem'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night turns out to be more than they had signed up for.

Besides spending a majority of time in class and debating whether the fifteenth remake of an awful 90s horror movie was worth watching, Lance spent a lot of time thinking up ways to confess.

Sure, he could just do the classic 'I've loved you since the moment we met' cliche moment, but Lance thought Keith was worth more than that. Hell, Keith probably thought he was worth more than that, but that wouldn't do Lance's self-esteem any favors either.

Lance wondered if buying some chocolates would help shift the conversations between the two into that romantic aspect, before forgetting the only type of chocolate he'll ingest is the one Keith cannot touch.  _'Nope, not having a lactose problem on movie night.'_

Making his way through the aisles of the local supermarket, he figured the easiest way to solve this would be to be upfront, considering his fear factored in greatly and would only worsen if he was too vague. Keith already took long enough realizing the two were friends, it wouldn't make their situation any better if he didn't get the hint that Lance wanted them to be more.

Lance found himself glaring at a bag of overpriced popcorn, muttering under his breath when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Jumping slightly, he almost dropped the bag before hearing the muffled giggles behind him.

"Well, Lance, I never expected you to be the type to scare so quickly." Smiling brightly, he shook off the fear as he met Allura's bright eyes and rivaling smile.

"Gee, Allura, maybe you shouldn't creep up on people when they're shopping!" Laughing, Allura took the bag from his hands and, glancing at the label, quirked an eyebrow. Pulling his basket from his grasp, she took note of everything in the male's possession.

"Overpriced popcorn, enough candy to rot your teeth if eaten alone, and...mineral water?" Lance's face lit up as he tried to pull his basket back into his own arms, fighting a losing battle against Allura's superhuman strength. Seriously, who let her start taekwondo at the age of _three?_ "If I did not know any better, Lance, I would say you are on your way to a movie date!"

"Whaat?" Lance sputtered, waving his hand dismissively at Allura's growing smirk, as if already knowing where - _rather to whom_ \- the night was taking him. "You're crazy! This is, uh, my normal Wednesday night snack! I buy this every Wednesday!"

"Riight, and not just particularly on this third Wednesday of the month. Not at all on the same day you normally spend the night at Keith's house, right?" Lance grumbled, figuring the best way to rid himself of his friend's pestering would be to just admit the truth. This wasn't an average movie night, and certainly not with someone Lance would call  _just a friend._

"Alright, ya caught me. I'm headed to Keith's place. Big deal." Lance sighed, finally regaining hold of his shopping basket as Allura clapped her hands gleefully, barely containing a grin too big for her face.

"I knew it! You told him about your emotions and he accepted you as a potential lifepartner!" If Lance hadn't already been lectured by Hunk and Pidge about his 'feelings', Allura would've definitely been the cause of his untimely death.

"No! No no no no no!! I'm just his- well he's just _my_ \- WE'RE JUST FRIENDS ALLURA!" Thankfully there was no one else in the aisle to be caught by surprise of Lance's outburst, coloring his face several shades of red as Allura glared heavily at him.

"Just friends is the biggest lie I have ever heard, Lance. You care for him as he does for you, we are all well aware of this." Sighing slightly, her glare lightened to a stare as she pouted. "Why do you two not admit your sentiments to one another if all others have already taken notice? It just does not add up."

"Yeah," Lance sidestepped Allura, shrugging slightly as he left the aisle. "Doesn't make much sense to me either."

 

* * *

 

 

He was entirely too early for the movie, entirely too nervous, and feeling entirely too idiotic as he stood in front of Keith's apartment with a bag of snacks.

The conversations from earlier replayed in his mind as he thought about what all his friends told him. Maybe Keith really did return his feelings, and this could be a really good thing.

Maybe he didn't have anything to be afraid of, and things would work out like those sappy movies his sisters made him watch growing up. Chuckling at this, he mustered up enough courage to lift his fist to knock on the slightly worn door.

A faint ' _just a minute'_ sounded from inside as Lance heard Keith's footsteps made their way to the door, smiling as it swung open.

"Hey. You're early, I was just cleaning up." Keith's hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, hairs sticking up at all angles as something resembling ink was smudged across half his cheek and on a majority of the white t-shirt that hung loosely on his frame. His sweatpants were slightly torn, the faded gray name of their college was barely legible on his left leg as all kinds of colors of paint was splattered on it. And even looking as cozy and slightly disheveled as he did, Keith still had Lance catching his breath. Slowly coming to his senses, Lance shrugged nonchalantly as he strode past him into his apartment.

"Eh, it's always a mess in here anyway, no need to clean just for me." Lance hoped Keith would take the bait, possibly hinting at what his friends mentioned was 'completely obvious to everyone'.

"I mean, I like having the place clean for guests. Just because you're my best friend doesn't mean you deserve any less." Keith shrugged lightly, closing the door as he padded behind Lance, taking the bag out of his hands. "What'd you bring?"

"That popcorn you were eyeballing last week -Hunk said it wasn't as gross as expected- and some junk food." Collapsing on the couch, Lance watched Keith rummage through the bag before sitting beside him. "Oh, and I got you some of that mineral water you're always drinking. Noticed you were kinda running out."

Keith's attention snapped to Lance as he tugged the water open, a smile gracing his face as Lance felt his face heat up. "Thanks Lance, you shouldn't have."

Lance really hoped his face wasn't as bright as it felt because it felt  _really hot and wow that smile is so cute how does he do that_ \- "Eh, it's no biggie."

Keith elbowed him lightly, standing as he walked into his small kitchen, the sounds of Keith rummaging through the cabinets and new groceries drawing a calm silence in the small apartment. Lance led himself to the bedroom, finding it the exact state it was in the last time he came over.

Paint was scattered everywhere, which honestly wasn't too surprising considering how often Keith seemed to paint nowadays, though a new canvas sat on the easel tucked in the corner of the room. The light from the window cascaded on the paint, the colors coming to life as they formed the beautiful figure of a man seated on a bench near a park. It was incomplete, but utterly stunning to Lance's inexperienced eyes. It was breathtaking, and while he thought everything Keith painted was stunning, this easily was the most beautiful scene he's ever witnessed. Creaking slightly, the sound of the door drew Lance's attention away from the painting to it's artist who stood in the doorway. Arms crossed in front of his chest, Keith leaned on the door frame, watching with a raised eyebrow as Lance took back his previous statement and decided that _this_ was the most beautiful scene he's ever witnessed.

"Like what you see?"  _Oh boy you have no idea._

"It looks fantastic. Where'd you come up with this?" Keith smirked slightly, his shoulders shrugging before letting his arms fall to his sides as he moved to stand beside Lance by the canvas.

"Just saw someone really attractive sitting by the park and thought it should be savored forever." Lance didn't miss the way Keith's eyes shined as he spoke, nor the way Keith let his fingers lightly brush against his own as he suddenly realized the figure in the painting had a sweater on that resembled the one Lance had hanging in his closet a bit too closely for coincidence. 

"That's me, isn't it?" Keith wanted to pretend Lance had spoken in his usual tone, cocky and arrogant, but couldn't ignore the way his tone was too quiet, too fragile for comfort. Meeting his eyes he realized Lance was suddenly surprisingly close and Lance didn't seem to stop moving towards his mouth. Lance didn't realize when he got so close but Keith was right there, reaching for his hand slowly, almost afraid to touch him and Lance knew that if he didn't move now he would regret it forever.

So he did.

And boy was he glad he did.

Pressing their lips together, Keith reacted immediately, hands reached up into Lance's messy locks as he tugged him closer, as Lance wrapped one arm around Keith's waist, the other reaching up to hold his face. They stood there, lips melting perfectly into each other until the need for oxygen became too strong and forced them to pull away. Pressing their foreheads together, Lance couldn't stop a laugh from bubbling out of him, Keith pulling back slightly at the sudden outburst.

"What are you laughing about?" Keith tried to force his voice stronger, but Lance's lips left him breathless enough to whisper angrily at the male in his arms giggles.

"I spent all day trying to think of a way to tell you I really like you and you go ahead and do this, do you know how stupid I felt all day?" Lance's laughter subsided, a warm smile gracing his features as Keith blushed fiercely.

"You spent all day thinking? I spent all month thinking! Imagine how I feel!" Lance laughed, harder than before as he pressed his face onto Keith's shoulder, laughing as the smaller male chuckled lightly, pulling his friend _-his best friend in the whole world-_ closer, relieved that the male returned his affections. With his laughter subsiding, Lance pulled himself away just enough to lock eyes with Keith, smiling as the male blushed at his loving gaze.

"If I had known you liked me back, I would've done this a month ago." Keith muttered, trying to tear his gaze away but failing miserably as Lance pressed a kiss to his forehead before allowing their lips to lock once more.

"Oh please, you know you were just as nervous about liking me. I don't blame you, I'm quite the-"

"Lance, just shut up."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sharknado was scheduled to make an appearance, but this spiraled out of control and honestly im proud of how it came out??  
> It all worked out so who really cares~  
> Hope you guys enjoyed, I really liked writing for these two, they're absolute dorks and i might write some more for them later on but for now I'm gonna head out so have a good day!


End file.
